Happy 5th Birthday To My Autumn Bottom

We started off the birthday celebrations early this morning.  Autumn opened her card from Rufio and was so excited to see that she got 5 - $1 bills.  She yelled out, “I’m rich!”

Then I let her open her 2 presents from Jason, Nicole & Khloe.  She got a new shirt and a new Princess game for her Leap Pad.  She was giddy about the gifts and wanted to put the shirt on right away and play her game.  But, I told her she had would have to wait until after school b/c we needed to get ready to go to school.

I got to leave work at 2:15 so I could be at Autumn’s “college” for snack time.  Mom & Dad met me there and we brought the kids little Debbie cakes and Capri Suns.  Mom bought these cute party hats for the kids and a big one for Autumn.  It kept falling off, which is why she’s holding it.  We stuck a few candles in her (what she called) cupcake and sang Happy Birthday to her.

Dad was modeling one of the party hats.  They came flat and a bunch of the kids were wearing theirs like this b/c they didn’t know they were supposed to make the hats round on the bottom.  Mom & Dad are SO GOOD to Autumn & I and make things so nice and special.  Mom brought Autumn a ton of balloons, which thrilled Autumn to no end.

Here’s Autumn’s class all wearing their party hats.  Mom was so ready to get out of there b/c all the noise and kids just stress her out.  She was telling Autumn’s teacher that she would rather dig ditches than work in a preschool.  LOL!  I thought the kids did great and were all well behaved.  They were really cute about wishing Autumn a Happy Birthday and being excited for her.

  After we were done w/ the party at school, Dad needed to go visit someone in the ward who is really sick and Mom needed to go grocery shopping.  I asked Autumn what she wanted to do and she said go to the park.  I tried talking her out of it b/c it was only in the 40’s w/ lots of wind.  I tried encouraging her to pick going to McDonald’s so she could still run around and play, but it would be inside so we wouldn’t be cold.  But, she kept wanting to go to the park and since it’s her special day I decided to suck it up and just endure the cold.  She wanted me to run around and chase her, but I was wearing flip flops.  I was going to use that as an excuse to just sit and watch her play, but decided that I needed to get off my butt and go play w/ my daughter.

There was a little boy at the park that she said is in her class at school a few times a week.  So, they had fun running around together while I chased after them.  We were all laughing and having a grand ol’ time.  We were there for an hour and then we had to go to help Mom w/ dinner.  It made me so nostalgic to see her climbing all over the big kid parts of the playground equipment, b/c I remember bringing her to the park as a little girl and she could barely go down the little slides.  She has grown up so much in what seems like a very short amount of time.  I can’t believe it’s already been 5 years!

Mom got this cute cupcake tablecloth, plates, and centerpiece to go w/ the balloons.  She always thinks of the little things that make things so nice.

I know this isn’t the best picture of Autumn, but it’s the only picture I got of her requested birthday dinner.  She asked for mac & cheese and “Lion King.”  That’s what she calls chicken ala king.  LOL!  Mom said this has got to be one of the easiest birthday dinners she’s ever made.

Autumn couldn’t eat fast enough b/c she knew that after she ate her dinner, it was time to open gifts.  First she opened Mom & Dad & Nick’s gifts.  Mom had her close her eyes and reach into the cute matching cupcake bag and pull out a present.  She got a Princess coloring book w/ stickers, Princess lip gloss, Princess finger nail polish, and a Dora the Explorer game for her Leap Pad.

Then she got to open her big gift, which was this box of 7 Princess dolls.  She has been asking for a Jasmine doll since Christmas and WalMart & Target don’t sell the Jasmine doll by itself, but it came in this big pack of dolls.  So sneaky of the stores to do it that way.  But, she was ecstatic and that made it worth it.

Since all of the dolls come w/ shoes that fall off as soon as you start playing w/ them, Mom had the great idea to glue the shoes to the dolls’ feet.  So, Dad put them on w/ Gorilla Glue while Mom took them out of the box.  Again, Autumn & I are so blessed to have such wonderful and supportive and loving people for parents/grandparents.  I bet Dad never thought he’d be using Gorilla Glue for something so girly.  LOL!

We needed to let the glue dry, so we went back to the table and had dessert.  When Mom asked Autumn a few days ago what she wanted for her birthday dinner & dessert Autumn said she wanted strawberries drizzled w/ honey!  She does not have your typical 5 year old taste in food.  Mom got her this adorable mini cake so we would at least having something to put the candle in for her to blow out, and it ended up being perfect.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday DEAR AUTUMN!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!”  Now make a wish and blow out your candle.

Oh, she had also asked for whipped cream on the strawberries.  Mom gave her a huge pile of whip cream and it started to fall over, so she held it up w/ her finger.  Funny girl.

After dessert, the glue wasn’t quite dry on the shoes and dolls.  So, she talked Nick into playing w/ the cardboard cutouts that came on the back of the box.  It was funny to hear him playing w/ her and what they were saying.  After a while, it was time to head home.

When we got home, Miss Diva went straight to her bag of presents and got out the nail polish.  She grabbed the file first thing and started filing her toenails.  How did she know to do that?  Then she painted her toenails pink and her fingernails blue.  I was actually super impressed w/ how well she did.  I’ll have to let her paint mine tomorrow.

It is almost impossible for me to believe that it has been 5 YEARS from the first picture to today.  When we left Utah, Autumn was only 5 months old, and now she’s 5 years old!  The time has just gone by way too fast!  I can’t even imagine what my life would be like w/out my Love Bug, Sweet Girl, Autumn Bottom, and most importantly GREATEST BLESSING.  She is the light of my life and brings indescribable happiness and joy to my life.

Here are the links to all of her past 5 birthdays:

2011
2010
2009
2008
2007